This is a difficult question to answer properly; there are literally dozens of easy to grow strains out there and beginners will do well with many of them. This is not rocket science, you will find growing cannabis is pretty much like growing any vegetable (yes it is classed as a vegetable)!

Here’s something to take into consideration though:

Before you start looking for seeds ask yourself whether you are going to use autoflowering seeds or not. These relatively new to the scene seeds have rapidly become very popular with growers and with good reason. They offer a quicker grow for one thing. As well as other advantages.

Autoflowering Seeds?

Autoflowering seeds just flower into cannabis flowers after 10-12 weeks, some take a little longer, but that’s generally the time-span you’ll be looking at. They are typically feminized, and you don’t have to worry about what time of year you plant them or changing light timers if you’re growing indoors. You plant and water them, and they will grow into lovely buds in most cases. A miracle of modern day cannabis breeding and a gift to the home grower.

Outdoors you can just plant autoflowers, and they will grow (from around May-August you can plant autoflowers in the UK.) Indoors they are usually given around 18-20 hours of light each day to get the best from them.

Feminized or Regular?

Seeds that do not autoflower come into two categories, just to complicate things you have ‘regular’ and ‘feminized’ seeds as well.

Regular seeds are as nature intended and considered by many to be the only way to grow weed. Regular seeds will grow into either male or female plants, and you don’t want to be growing males if you can help it. There are no buds on male cannabis plants.

Feminized seeds are just that and have been developed to only be female using specialised breeding techniques. They will always grow into female plants with the desired buds forming during the flowering period.

Both feminized and regular seeds are what is known as photoperiod sensitive, in that they will start to flower when there is around 12 hours darkness every night.

This happens when you change your lighting timers from 18 to 12 hours or outdoors it occurs at or around September time.

Each plant has a slightly different flowering length, and flowering trigger time, however. Flowering times tend to take from between 8 and 12 weeks though some more exotic strains can go even longer. Growing strains that flower for a long period is not advisable outdoors in the UK because of weather in the later part of winter – frost will kill off your plant if the damp doesn’t get to your prized buds first.

Indica or Sativa?

Some weed sends you to sleep. That would be an Indica. Other weed makes you tidy up and clean your house. That’s a Sativa. And that is a very black and white explanation. There are many shades inbetween Indica and Sativa – ie hybrids which are a mixture of a little bit of one or a bit of the other.

The general rule is though that Sativas tend to be more uplifting, cerebral and stimulating whereas your Indica will offer more of a body high often with powerful pain killing and soporific effects. Some hybrids offer a wonderful combination of the two qualities, killing pain but also giving you the energy to function. Famous hybrids you may have heard of include White Widow and Northern Lights. Most modern cannabis varieties are hybrids of some sort.

Autoflowers for ease?

Some would say autoflowering seeds are better for beginners, given the quick turnaround and amount of care required. Autoflowers have improved greatly in recent years and make for an easier to grow cannabis plant that also takes less time than growing feminized or regular seeds, generally speaking.

They are also normally smaller and so easier to conceal or grow in small areas.

No lighting changes to induce flowering make autoflowering seeds a simpler prospect. It has also been my experience that autos in most cases smell a lot less than photoperiod strains when they are in bud.

Definitely check out Fastbuds if you are thinking about autos as they have some wonderful examples of US genetics in autoflowering format. All their strains are pretty straightforward to grow.

Northern Lights

Northern Lights comes up a lot in recommendations for beginners. It is a very nice smoke indeed with a strong body effect. It’s an Indica which means it won’t grow to be huge and flowers in a mere 7 to 8 weeks time. You can’t really go wrong with Northern Lights. It also yields really well so you’d get a substantial harvest when flowering is over.

It will take some punishment from a first time grower without problem and is suitable for somebody seeking medical benefits from the plant. Should be helpful for sleep, but won’t immediately knock you out, kind of thing.

Magnum

I have to say this plant has delivered again and again over many seasons. It’s always on my list as it’s simple to grow and is a fantastic smoke. Definitely one of my favourite autos of all time. Available here.

You can easily get well over an ounce from this autoflowering plant without trying very hard at all. The high is euphoric and uplifting, letting you get your stuff done but also keeping you in a very happy place. I love this plant. More about growing that here.

Sensi Seeds

Sensi Seeds have recently expanded their autoflowering offering and their ’Sensi Skunk Auto’ is getting some pretty interesting reviews. I’m very much looking forward to growing this in the future, sounds like it’s a nice choice for beginners too, especially in cold and windy UK climates.

As well as their autos, Sensi have a special beginners strains section which is well worth checking out. Sensi Seeds genetics have been around longer than most other cannabis seeds. With them you are buying directly from the breeder and can expect the best.

Other recommendations

Dinafem XXL Autos are pretty impressive. Personally, I’ve only grown their Cheese XXL outdoors which was easy to grow with absolutely massive buds that literally explode into existence after a few weeks. It was simple to grow – just about grew itself – and the effect is very strong and cheesey. It’s not the same as their standard cheese but is a pretty fun stoned effect, all in all one fantastic plant.

Autoflowering strains have come on a lot over the years, and now the renowned Sensi Seeds have some really nice examples.

If you are purely looking for yield then Jack 47 Auto from Sweet Seeds literally explodes and is definitely one of the most powerful autos that I have seen. Nice taste and an up high, you can’t ask for much more then this. She’s a beast. Easy to get a few ounces per plant with this one.

The Magnum from Buddha Seeds is also a firm favourite which I found easy to grow. It has wonderful active high that helps you get stuff done. No growing difficulties at all and very consistent. Well worth your time. Details of growing the Magnum here.

Dinafem Cheese XXL is also wonderful and exhibits very long buds of fruity goodness in no time at all. This plant is in a league of its own. Really easy to grow and massive buds of cheesey type weed. A complete winner. A heavier, fun stone.

Sensi Seeds have quite a few autos in their collection now but the Sensi Skunk Auto appears to be getting excellent reviews with decent yields. It’s the kind of thing that would grow really well outdoors in the UK, even Scotland by the sounds of things it’s very hardy.

Fast Buds have some great yielding plants too. They breed classic American genetics into autoflowers with fantastic results. Well worth checking out. Their Girl Scout Cookies is a particularly fierce and tasty cosmic Indica I wont be forgetting in a hurry.

1. Adjustment from smoking

If you smoke a lot of potent cannabis and suddenly switch to a vaporizer, it’s possible you might not even notice the high immediately. It can be quite a subtle thing so it might be an idea (shock horror) to take a little break to let your body adjust to ‘not smoking’ so you will get more from your first vape hit. Obviously, this is going to depend a lot on which vape you end up using, but a short break of a day or even half a day may help you to properly appreciate what vaping is all about.

2. Maintenance

Some vaporizers are going to need regular maintenance. Some not so much. For example, if you use a portable like the Ploom Pax, that actually comes with a cleaning kit including pipe cleaners, and if you are a heavy toker then you are going to find yourself cleaning out that shaft every few days in order to keep the vape running at optimum.

This is not the case for other portables such as the Arizer Solo, so bear this in mind when considering what vaporizer will suit you best.

3. Subtlety

The thing about smoking a doob is that everybody within 20 metres or so of you is going to know what you are doing. That is not the case for vaping. You’d be amazed at the places that you can do a vape without being noticed. Clearly the popularity of vaping for cigarettes means now that you won’t immediately look like you are up to something that might be seen as suspicious. Whereas you had to pop out for a smoke before, there’s none of that involved with vapes, and you can even get away with having a quick blast in the supermarket if you like that sort of thing.

4. Differences in strains

There is no doubt about it that some strains go better in the vape than others. It’s like some strains were actually made for vaping because of the substantial effect and marvellous taste, whereas another strain might not quite tick the same boxes. Some weed is just better off being smoked in my humble opinion.

The only way to work this out is to find your favourite vaping strains and stick to those if you want to avoid all combustion. Remember if you do end up smoking a doobie or two and then going back to vaping then it’s not the end of the world.

5. Costs

If you can get into vaping long term then you are going to save a fortune on your weed, no two ways about it. Depending on the vape I would estimate that you will end up using a half or maybe even a third of the amount of weed that you would if you were smoking. And you’ll be just as stoned, but generally speaking in a more manageable way.

This is a significant factor for many people, and you will just be amazed at the differences possible in consumption, especially if you are used to smoking weed pure in a spliff. Your herb will stretch out for much more extended periods

6. A wider range of cannabinoid consumption

Because cannabis contains several hundred different cannabinoids, it always has slightly different effects. These cannabinoids all have different temperatures which they burn or boil at, so when smoking the herb a certain amount of cannabinoids are just not going to be present as they will have been burned off when a certain temperature is reached.

This is just not a problem with vaping as the temperature can be set to a preferred level and you will get to consume a broader range of cannabinoids just by merit of the fact that you are not burning your weed. You will absorb more of the medical qualities of the cannabis, and your skin will improve (from not smoking) I promise. Find out which vape is best for you here.

7. Going back to smoking can taste like a bonfire

Do be aware, once you are used to using a vaporizer that your taste buds and lungs adjust to it. Things (not sure what, exactly) start to grow back in your lungs that were being burned by regular smoking so, if you go back to a spliff after a long time vaping, you are almost certainly going to notice a kind of burning feeling in your lungs (mmm) and the weed that you are smoking is going to taste like a bonfire. Yes, disgusting. This taste pretty much shows you why you have been vaping all that time. It can be quite disgusting so do be careful swapping between smoking and vaping if you’ve been purely vaping for some time.

8. The effect can be adjusted by a change in temperature

One of the wonderful things about (most) vaporisers is that they can be adjusted. This changes the effect – as mentioned above different cannabinoids have different temperatures that they burn off at. Some people like to use low heat on their vape for a better taste whereas if you have been a cigarette smoker for many years, you may prefer to put the temperature up a bit, so you get something that feels more like a ‘hit’ in your throat. Everybody has their own favourite temperature.

Nowadays, strains like Blue Dream and Sour Diesel are among the most abundant in many US dispensaries. And I’ve always wondered, why these strains? Yes, they are tasty, but so are many others. The answer: high yield and availability. Blue Dream and Sour Diesel were once the highest yielding strains that were also easy to cultivate, making them the most popular (and least expensive) on the market. But, digging deeper, I found that the popular dispensary strains aren’t necessarily the highest yielding anymore.

Strains like Super Silver Haze, White Widow, Grand Daddy Purple and Northern Lights kept topping the lists, but in 2018, we now have some of the most revered cultivators who have perfected the delicate balance of growing cannabis. They have created a whole array of hybrid strains that incorporate some of the best qualities from their parents which bring us even higher yielding strains. For example, lists of high-yielding strains that were published in 2015 were names like Big Bud and Northern Lights as the top two.

Now, Northern Lights didn’t even make the list, though it is a parent of number one and four, and Big Bud has dropped from number one to number five.

Just to make it perfectly clear, there are many other strains that yield in the same range. Here, I focused on some of the more common strains and provided a variety to appeal to different types of growers.

Top Choice: Super Lemon Haze, 800g

With a maximum yield of 800g/m2, Super Lemon Haze is a sure win-win. A combo of Haze, Skunk and Northern Lights, this citrus-sticky is an audience favorite because it is easy to smoke and easy to grow. With the highest yield and an easy level of cultivation, Super Lemon Haze is easily the top pick of LIWTS.

Redefining The Empowered Female: White Widow Skunk, 700g

White Widow Skunk comes in second with a yield of 700g/m2 – an elevated version of the White Widow strain which yields around 600g/m2. This widow is the least bit lonely because she is well sought out by growers and producing tons of baby (or huge) sticky white nugs.

Easy For Anyone: Cookies Kush, 650g

Cookies is a name you will hear quite often, especially because of its infamous GSC strain – the one that caused a lawsuit with a young ladies’ club that sold a product with the same name. Cookies Kush takes the best of both the strains Cookies and Kush – hence the name – and elevated the once highly-revered yielding strain Kush to a new potential. This strain is great for beginners but only yields high for experienced growers.

The Challenge: Nevilles, 650g

Nevilles is one I hadn’t heard of before, but upon researching, I found it is a unique blend of Haze and Northern Lights, two original high-yielding strains. The hybrid technique or well-bred seeds seems to greatly increase production. This plant has a desirable makeup with its two delightful parents but tends to be a fussy plant to deal with. This one is recommended for experienced growers only.

The Original: Big Bud, 650g

This gal has kept steady in the ranks for some years now. Big Bud has made a name for itself being one of the highest yielding strains known in the biz for some time. With the ever-growing cultivation industry, Big Bud has been out run by a few others but still remains on our top list – well, because it is one of the originals and an easy strain to grow. Some growers boast a 650g yield with hydroponics, but on average, for a decent grow, expect nothing higher than 600g. If you are the hydro interested, then this would be the best pick for you as it is well suited for the method (plus, of course, the high yield).

The Runner-Up

6. Narco Purple Auto, 600g

Here’s one more – for all of you autoflowering fanatics. The Narco Purple Auto, a hybrid of Narco Kush Auto, Hindu Kush and Purple Afghani, has the highest yielding of its autoflowering kind not to mention it is an easy grow for beginners. Why? Because it will autoflower, meaning it will reach a vegetative state automatically – which means less work for you as the grower – and has a faster harvesting time of 9 weeks. Narco Purps also scores bonus points for being resilient to mold and pests. This one might be the hardest grow to mess up – good news for newbies!

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